


The Thunder Rolls, and the Lightning Strikes

by CityEscape4



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, Semblance (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 15:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18552847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CityEscape4/pseuds/CityEscape4
Summary: Shortly after the destruction of Kuroyuri, Ren and Nora travel through Anima's mountains, looking for some sort of refuge.





	The Thunder Rolls, and the Lightning Strikes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post ([x](http://cityescape4.tumblr.com/post/167136109899/ok-i-know-nora-revealing-to-oscar-how-she-found))

Kuroyuri was gone.

Kuroyuri was gone, and so were his parents, and as far as Ren knew, so was the Nuckelavee. For now. 

Armed with the blade his father gave him, Ren found himself trekking through Anima by foot, joined by the young girl he rode out the Nuckelavee's attack with - Nora. The two of them were trying to find their way somewhere, _anywhere,_ that would provide some safety from the wilds of Anima's forests and mountains, from the looming threat of the Grimm that lurked in the shadows. Together, they'd agreed to travel high, to lessen the chance of being ambushed by wild animals let alone feral Grimm, and to give themselves a better view of their surroundings, so that they could seek out nearby villages easier. Unfortunately, they'd had no luck finding any such refuge.

With the decision to take the high road being made, the two of them currently found themselves atop the high hills and mountainous region of Anima, making their way through the land as best as two lone orphaned children could. It had been raining for sometime since the day started, but the sky was beginning to grow murky with dark gray clouds, thunder beginning to roll lowly, threateningly. Ren looked up towards the sky, Nora stopping next to him. "Whaddya thinking?" She asked, a hand going to clutch at one of Ren's sleeves. 

Ren reached over and patted her hand comfortingly, exhaling to calm himself before looking to her with a small smile. "We should probably look for shelter soon, Nora. The storm looks like it wants to get worse."

Nora nodded and sighed, wiping at her face with her free hand, the action ultimately made moot by the continuously falling rain. "Do you think we'll find a village soon?" There was hope in her eyes, hope that Ren didn't want to extinguish, despite the waning time they'd had left today before night fell. 

"Yeah," He replied, hiding his uncertainty well from her, "Maybe we'll find one before the day's end."

The sound of a branch snapping from the direction of nearby underbrush caught both Ren and Nora's attention, their hands going to their respective weapons: Ren to his father's blade, and Nora to her wooden hammer. Ren gave Nora a signal to wait, and he snuck up slowly down towards the direction of the sound, his father's blade at the ready. The wind had picked up quickly, whipping and wailing voraciously as Ren pressed his back to a tree, activating his semblence to hide from any looming threat that might await him. He gave Nora a reassuring nod, before looking over his shoulder and rushing to the opposite side of the tree with a yell, away from Nora's view, where the sound originated from. Thankfully, there was no Grimm, just a frightened bunny rabbit which scampered away the second Ren made himself known.

Ren inhaled then exhaled slowly, deactivating his semblence as he did so, the tenseness of uncertainty leaving his body as he did, thankful the sound they'd heard wasn't any sort of Grimm. While he did somewhat mourn the loss of a potential meal to keep them sustained through their travels, Ren was relieved that for now, he and Nora were safe. Sheathing his father's blade back at his side, Ren moved back into Nora's view, smiling at her as he did so. "It's ok!" He called to her, "It was just a rabbit!"

Lightning flashed and almost instantaneously thunder cracked sharply, causing both children to flinch. Ren's mind was running, remembering his mother telling him about the relationship between thunder and lightning, that the larger the gap between seeing lightning and hearing thunder, the further away the lightning was. So for there to be thunder and lightning so close to one another here meant that they were in danger, especially being so high up, where lightning could reach.

"Nora!" Ren waved her over, wanting her to come to him. "We've got to head down the mountain! We're not safe up here!"

Nora looked up at the ominous sky above her, before looking at Ren worriedly, almost frozen in place. It took her a moment, but she _did_ finally move, making her way down to Ren, only for lightning to come down directly on her, light and sound both crashing violently down, engulfing the young child, much to Ren's horror.

It was like time stood still.

Ren couldn't believe what the _hell_ had just happened. How _could_ this have happened? Not only had he lost his mother, not only had he lost his father, not only had he lost his all of Kuroyuri, but now he'd just lost the only thing he'd had left in his life: this girl who'd been like a bright light in his life, this structure of support keeping him from just completely losing it.... was now gone?

_"NORA!"_

Ren shrieked his companion's name, barely able to hear himself over the wind and rain. He had shielded his eyes from the bright light of the lightning, but as he opened his eyes... he froze. 

He gasped as he was met with the sight of Nora standing - albeit shakily - as if lightning hadn't just struck her. The fringes of her clothes were scorched, and ultimately her legs gave way, causing her to fall flat on her bottom. Nora looked down at herself, her hands shaking, but not from fear, but from _power_ , static electricity flickering over her hands. She let loose a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and continued to look over herself, noticing the same bits of static electricity flickering all over her body, not just at her hands.

She. felt. _great._

She felt like she could do _anything._ She felt pumped, the best she'd ever felt. Like she could carry Ren and herself all across the mountains of Anima in one go. Like she could lift the damn mountains on Anima and not break a sweat. Like she could jump up into the sky and stop the clouds and the storm barehanded. She repeatedly opened and closed her hands tightly, quickly, feeling the adrenaline coursing throughout her small body. "I'm ok..." She murmured to herself, amazement prevalent in her voice. She stood up, still somewhat shakily, and looked over at Ren. "I'm ok! I'm-- Ren?"

Ren had fallen to his knees, and was _bawling._

The flux of emotions running through him was too much. Nora was fine, _Nora was fine,_ so why couldn't he stop crying? He'd thought he'd lost her. He'd just barely started healing after losing his parents; He'd just barely started to regain some sent of normalcy to his life, traveling together with Nora, only to think - even if for a brief second or two - that he'd lost everything all over again? But she was _fine,_ and he was fine and everything was fine, right? _Right?_ But he bawled and bawled, and even as Nora ran over to him and hugged him - albeit a bit too tightly with her newfound strength - he continued to bawl.

"It's ok, Ren, it's ok." Nora hugged him tightly, her head against his as she began crying too. "It's ok, I'm ok." 

Ren nodded against her as he continued to cry, his arms wrapping around her in return and clutching onto her desperately, as if she'd disappear if she let go.

And for a while, they stayed like that, holding onto each other, nestled in the underbrush, waiting out the storm.


End file.
